Assessments

You Need These 5 Confidence Builders to Achieve Amazing Results

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“Building confidence that never fails requires ongoing and consistent attention.” Jeannette Seibly

Building your confidence is essential for you to do each and every day, especially when dealing with daily demands on your time, attention, and energy. Remember to be aware of saboteurs (e.g., your team, boss, customers, and co-workers). Paying conscious attention will help you achieve outcomes faster while continually building your confidence and competence.

Here are ideas to develop and build your inner power and confidence!

  1. Believe in Yourself. It’s difficult when you experience a failure, mistake, or rejection. Breathe. Learn for the experience. Now, get back into the conversation for focused action!
  1. Be Present. Allowing your internal mental chatter to get in the way limits results and relationships! When having conversations and attending meetings or events, give 100% attention to the speaker. You’ll be amazed by what you can learn, even if you believe you already know it all! 
  1. Be a Results Producer. Going through the motions without a conscious intention to improve the quality isn’t taking focused action!
  • Get honest about the actions you are taking by hiring a coach.
  • Have the tough and needed conversations.
  • Don’t overlook quality. And focus on performance challenges, not personality differences.
  • Now, you can achieve the goals you used to dream about.
  1. Be Coachable. You don’t have all the answers, and frequently, you do things the hard way with limited results. Hire the right coach and watch your confidence grow with clarity and calmness.
  1. Get Your Brag On! Pay attention to your daily activities and wins by keeping a written log of your achievements. When it’s time for a job promotion, job interview, board meeting, sales presentation, or pitch for your book or product, you’re ready! Your brags make a big difference in building your confidence. They also build your reputation and ability to influence others!

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom guides clients to achieve intended dynamic results consistently! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about building your confidence each and every day: Consciously building your confidence each day requires recognizing when it is being sabotaged! Contact me for a confidential conversation about identifying and eradicating saboteurs!  

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? A great boss works with an experienced executive coach as a sounding board. I have extensive experience and wisdom guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams. Along the way, they achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching programs. Remember, being coached accelerates building your effectiveness, influence, and confidence.

What Do You Do When Your Team Is Hurting Results?

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“When a team fails to achieve intended results, bosses and leaders need to look in the mirror first for answers!” Jeannette Seibly

No one likes to think their team is hurting results. But dismissing the issue, believing it’s unimportant, and failing to take responsibility for the systems and outcomes is a no-win for teams, bosses, customers, and leaders! Remember, finding new customers and talent costs a lot of money. And it overlooks the necessity to improve quality and your team’s reputation!

Tips to Discover and Improve Results

Get into Action. Ask questions to get to the core of the issue. Use an objective process: “What Worked? / What Didn’t Work?” Debrief as a team. This exercise will end the usual finger-pointing or the blame game. During this process, use acknowledgment for the “good things that did happen.” Appreciation encourages viable solutions!

Be in Communication. Keep your team and co-workers apprised when there is an issue. Ask questions after conducting your team debrief to see what else may be missing. Do this immediately, BEFORE talking with the customer or other people affected. Keep everyone up-to-date while valuing their input! Promise to resolve the issue(s). (Very Important Hint: Don’t drop the ball … people have long memories when promises are not kept! These memories can stifle your co-workers and team from working with you in the future.)

“Excuses don’t help make things better. They only offer a rationale to avoid trying.”

Simon Sinek

Bring in Outside Expertise. Everyone wants to hide that they failed to achieve the intended results, fearing embarrassment and humiliation. Consider that bringing in outside help takes the pressure off you to have all the answers. (Hint: You don’t; others may not value your opinions right now.) Work with these experts to diagnose the actual issue. Listen. Make appropriate changes. Don’t forget that ongoing and consistent training is crucial when developing new habits!

Use a Qualified Job Fit Assessment. When teams and team members fit their job, it diminishes miscommunication, factionalism, and other mischief! Often, issues can be resolved by using people’s strengths and placing them in the right jobs! First, refine job descriptions and job responsibilities. Second, develop the skills that impact the quality of the results: communication, critical thinking, and team management.

Top-Down Challenge. When results fail, many bosses and leaders focus on the bottom-up (employees v. management). Consider the issue may be you! While many bosses and leaders believe they are above reproach, their rigid perspectives and do-as-I-say mindset get in the way. Remember, it’s not business as usual anymore! Bring in an executive coach/consultant to improve the management team’s coachability and ability to coach others for results. Then, empower each boss and leader and provide the tools to make the necessary team changes.

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom guides clients to achieve intended dynamic results consistently! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about when your team hurts intended results: Set aside the normal finger-pointing! Now, create conversations and solutions to create win-win-win outcomes. Contact me for a confidential conversation about how to have conversations that produce intended results.

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? Great bosses work with an experienced executive coach as a sounding board. I have extensive experience and wisdom in guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams. Along the way, they achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching program. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to achieve intended results for you and your teams!

How to Improve Your Ability to Communicate with Anyone Everywhere

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“Your ability to communicate effectively with anyone everywhere builds your career and promotability.” Jeannette Seibly

Working with a demanding boss or team member, or co-worker is something we all avoid whenever possible. The problem? It hurts your work results and relationships and limits your ability to be promoted.

You may believe you are good at hiding your true feelings about others. The truth? They know you don’t like them and find them difficult to talk with. And if they don’t see it, others will let them know! (Hint: You can count on that!)

How to Improve Your Communication Skills and Stop Avoiding People

Know Yourself. Use qualified job fit and confidential 360-degree feedback assessments. When you do these, you can now objectively clarify your strengths and weaknesses when working and interacting with others. Debrief with your coach, boss, and team members. Allow them to provide additional insights that build your effectiveness in work and communication with others.

Develop Compassion. You’ve not walked in their shoes, and they’ve not walked in yours. Have compassion for others’ difficulties. Ask them about their personal and business experiences, life, and goals. Genuinely listen. Everyone has an interesting back story that you can identify with and appreciate. Take the time to do this … the results will be amazing.

Level Up Your Listening. We all have automatic ways of listening to people. And we rely on our justifications about why. Instead, set aside your own biases and inflexibilities (aka insecurities). Listen with an open mind. It’s amazing what you can learn … and you’ll find others will suddenly become easier to work with. (Yes! It’s true.)

Build Your Confidence. Use your “brags” to build your confidence. Then, you’ll feel less fearful when talking with others and working with them to resolve issues and create solutions. Confidence can transform a relationship; they will now have your back and value your opinions.

Take Communication Programs. Take several … not just one! Too many business professionals, bosses, and leaders today have poor communication skills. (Yes, it’s hard to believe!) Take a Toastmasters, Landmark, or other program that focuses on communicating with others, building positive relationships, and making presentations. These skills are invaluable and can be used anytime and everywhere!

Now, these difficult and sometimes evil people you feel forced to work with are not so bad! And others will recognize your ability to work with anyone anywhere and at any time. It’s how you will positively influence others and enjoy those job promotions and accolades!

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom guides clients to achieve intended dynamic results on a consistent basis! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about your ability to communicate with anyone everywhere: Working with a difficult boss or team member, or co-worker is something we all avoid whenever possible. The problem? It hurts your work results and relationships and limits your ability to be promoted. Contact me for a confidential conversation about how to work well with anyone, anywhere, and at any time.

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? Great bosses work with an experienced executive coach as a sounding board. I have extensive experience and wisdom in guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams. Along the way, they achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching program. Remember, coaching accelerates your communication effectiveness and influence.

Factionalism Hurts Retention, Revenues, and Results in Any Company

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“Eliminating factionalism positively impacts your company’s revenues, results, and retention.” Jeannette Seibly

Factionalism is: A condition in which a team or company is split into two or more smaller groups with differing and often opposing opinions or interests. (Dictionary.com)

We expect teams and departments within any company to work well together all the time. This expectation can be unrealistic. In reality, every company will have conflicts here and there. It’s when those disagreements don’t go away that factionalism erupts. It creates dysfunctional workplace cultures and hurts employee satisfaction, customer retention, and the bottom line.

What Causes Factionalism?

When leaders cannot satisfactorily resolve animosity, competition, indifference, and ongoing disputes, teams, co-workers, and bosses often take on bad attitudes, take sides, or blame others.

Factionalism erupts due to:

  • Negative attitudes by bosses and leaders toward each other or a small group of people
  • Hiring, promoting, or job transferring people that don’t fit the job responsibilities
  • Pitting departments or groups of employees against one another for competing needs
  • Adversarial mindsets (e.g., sales reps blame customer service or operations when a customer is lost)
  • Allowing egos to get in the way (e.g., “we” v. “I” OR “us” v. “them”)
  • Forgetting about the importance of the mission and vision of the company
  • Withholding important information
  • Not holding remote and hybrid workers to performance and company standards
  • Blaming the customer or group of employees for mistakes or problems

How to Be the Solution to Factionalism and Not the Contributor to the Problem

Communication, Communication, Communication. There are many bosses and employees who are not good or great communicators. Poor communication causes people to take sides with “he said this” v. “no, she said that” v. “I thought it meant this.” As the boss or leader, ask questions to uncover the true intention and facilitate win-win-win outcomes. Remember, factionalism often begins as a small solvable concern before it erupts into an impenetrable mountain.

Solve Conflicts Immediately. When someone deliberately and consistently impedes progress creating confusion or chaos, s/he needs to be coached or removed from the job or team, or conflict will escalate.

Examples include:

  • Withholding information and resources
  • Ignoring emails or advice
  • Making the solutions more complicated than necessary
  • Blocking issues from being fixed
  • Hostility towards others’ ideas
  • Refusal to take advice that can make a difference
  • Failure to admit mistakes
  • Unwillingness to resolve team conflict

The truth is that when your team members (or you) lack the communication, project management, and people skills required, change is necessary. Hire an executive coach and use a performance improvement plan to ensure they are making progress.

Get Real. Gossip, myths, and lack of critical thinking impede the truth. Also, the lack of top-down or down-up conversations (communication) hinders addressing the real issues. You must realize that when customers and top talent leave, it’s important to tell yourself and co-workers the truth about resources, company and people changes, and customer requirements.

Hold Team Retreats and Inter-Team/Department Discussions. Training in communication, team building, team meetings, and confidence building are just a few examples that help everyone keep the lines of communication open to reduce factionalism. When your employees or teams get territorial about their work and systems, it’s usually because they do minimal work to get by (e.g., quiet quitting) or fear asking for help. Hire an outside facilitator to create insightful group discussions, ensure everyone is heard, and keep everyone engaged.

Use Job Fit Assessments to Understand Differences Objectively. When you or your team blame others for not thinking and working like you do, it’s time to understand “why objectively.”

In my experience, using a qualified job fit tool can reduce factionalism. It helps everyone understand and appreciate differences objectively; productive conversations and communication open up too. Job fit assessments have the highest scientific validation and reliability and provide more accurate data. They can eliminate miscommunication, blaming or nitpicking, or other disrespectful behaviors and attitudes that create factionalism.

Fulfilling Expectations. When you expect others to get along AND make your own effort to get along with others, you will reduce factionalism. Enforce policies and procedures, set clear guidelines on ‘no-tolerance policies’ (e.g., choice of words, favoritism), and refuse to allow your team to bypass others, citing the need for expediency. (Hint: It’ll actually take longer to resolve when the detour is discovered!)

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? With Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom, she guides clients through sticky situations and challenging relationships for dynamic results! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about factionalism in your workplace culture: As bosses and leaders, it starts with you! You set the example and the tone within your teams of how to get along and work well with others. Get involved. Listen to concerns. Have conversations for win-win-win outcomes. Contact me for a confidential discussion about how to reduce and eliminate factionalism.

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? Great bosses work with an experienced executive coach as a sounding board. I have extensive experience and wisdom in guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching program. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to manage, lead, and influence others.

Bosses impact everyone’s ability to love their jobs, enjoy learning new skills, and work well with others. To accelerate your team’s results, use the PXT Select to see the “whole person.”

Tough Times Require Resilient Bosses to Achieve Results

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“Bosses … resiliency during tough times is the key to achieve amazing results and future career opportunities.” Jeannette Seibly

Today’s workplaces are undergoing tough changes and need resilient bosses! But, instead, many bosses allow their frustrations and inability to transform relationships and situations to get in the way.

Do you:

  • Believe hiring for job fit is nonsense and takes too much time?
  • Believe your team should get their jobs done faster by doing it your way (aka micromanaging)?
  • Feel your customers demand too much from you? Your team?
  • Hate your team constantly bringing you problems and making your job more difficult?
  • Believe it takes too much time to get others’ input, especially when you won’t use it anyway?

If you are being truthful, you will answer yes to at least one of these questions.

As a boss, it’s usually easier to achieve intended results during the good times. But it’s during the tough and uncertain times that team members will either value and follow you for your resiliency and “can-do” attitude, or post negative ratings!

How to Build Your Resilience to Achieve Results

Develop Your Inner Power. Your self-esteem is important. It’s a reflection of your inner power and resiliency when mistakes occur and problems arise. Take the time to work with an executive coach. Also, consider talk therapy with a licensed therapist. Take part in workshops focused on developing your confidence and communication skills, while upgrading your project and people management talents.

Ask for Help and Feedback. Now, more than ever, you cannot go it alone, especially during tough times. Learn how to ask for help and ask for feedback from your team, co-workers, boss, and others when making decisions. Make sure you’re really listening! Be open to expanding your point-of-view … remember, it’s not business as usual. Example: When a customer is unhappy, ask for specific feedback of what didn’t work! Now, get the team in focused action to create and implement solutions, not excuses!

Hire for Job Fit. Job fit is why teams excel! But too many hiring bosses believe anyone can do any job successfully. The problem is, if the person doesn’t have the interest, thinking style, or core behaviors, they will fail to achieve intended results. Poor job fit often results in miscommunication, conflict, and other mischief (aka a lot of extra problems, work, and sleepless nights)!

Coach and Manage for Quality Results. Stop settling for mediocrity and accepting excuses, especially when you can make a huge impact during uncertain times. (Think, your competition has already given up.) Learn to ask good business questions designed to get your team thinking outside the box, and critically thinking about how to fulfill customer demands. Learn to brainstorm and do not dismiss off-the-wall ideas! (Hint: They are usually the best ones!)

Mindfulness and EI are Still Important. Your emotional intelligence (EI) and ability to be present during conversations are the marks of a good boss. Life and business are never easy all the time. Example: It requires continually developing your resilience and willingness to say, “I/we made a mistake … this is how I/we plan to fix it.” Then, get it resolved immediately!

Don’t Shy Away from Tough Conversations. Remember, your voice matters! Stop going into meetings believing your ideas won’t matter! Instead of being defensive in these meetings, state your commitment and concerns first. Second, ask questions to discover and uncover others’ true hesitations or differing opinions. Listen. There will be areas of agreement that you can build on. Be a parrot when necessary, and don’t become emotionally attached to the outcome. Remember, the goal is win-win-win.

Keep Developing You, Your Individual Team Members, and Your Team as a Whole. Guard your budget dollars to ensure ongoing training and development. Now is not the time to dismiss developing everyone’s skills because you cannot afford it! If there’s a will, there’s way (think, taking initiative and being resourceful). Remember, tough times don’t last, but tough bosses do!

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? With Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom, she guides clients through sticky situations and challenging relationships for dynamic results! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about being a resilient boss during tough times: Remember, tough times don’t last, but tough bosses do! Do you know how to be resilient when you want to pull the covers up over your head and call-in to take a personal day? This week, discover and put into action at least one tip to develop your resiliency. Contact me for a confidential conversation about hiring, coaching, and managing for profitable success during tough times.

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? Great bosses work with an experienced executive coach as a sounding board. I have extensive experience and wisdom in guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching program. Remember, coaching increases your resiliency and has you succeed during tough times!

Bosses impact retention, revenues, and results each and every day by how they engage employees. To improve your bottom line, use the PXT Select to see the “whole person.”

Bosses Engage Their Employees to Build Profitable Companies

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“The right bosses are the keys to your company’s profitability and employee success!” Jeannette Seibly

According to Workplace by Gallup®, economic growth has slowed and created low employee engagement. Loss of customers and profits. And poor management of people, resources, and revenues.

Building a profitable company requires bosses that engage their employees!

As a management executive, did you know:

  • 82% of the time, bosses are chosen for the wrong reasons (e.g., technical ability, length of employment, likeability)
  • Employees feel being unemployed is better than hating their jobs, and their bad bosses
  • More than 75% of employees are quietly quitting (not engaged) or loudly quitting (actively disengaged), hurting profitability and customer retention
  • More than 50% are not engaged and put in minimal effort to get by, blaming their bosses

“Employee engagement has an even stronger connection to performance outcomes during tough economic times.” (Workplace, Gallup®)

It’s why you need to hire, promote, and job transfer the right people into “boss” positions.

It’s Essential Bosses Improve Engagement, Productivity, and Profits

#1 Start with how you hire, promote, and job transfer people into “boss positions.”

Many employees want to be bosses since it means a bigger paycheck, perks, and title/status (and sometimes they want the power). The problem is that many people may know their jobs well but make poor bosses in your workplace environment for various reasons. Remember, not everyone is cut out for a boss/leadership position, so it’s important to provide alternative career paths to keep top talent. The question to ask: How can they continue to grow and be positive contributors to your business?

Example: A great salesperson was transferred into a boss position. It didn’t take long for employees to complain about her poor “boss style.” Instead of giving her back her former job, they fired her! She left and took several large clients with her!

Job fit is key! There are over 3,000 assessments published today. Yet, only a few provide valid, reliable, and predictive data. You and your company must see people for who they really are, not how they want to be seen. Clarity about the “whole person” is a crucial factor in your ability to develop great bosses. Otherwise, your training, coaching, and management efforts will be thwarted!

Here are questions to ask yourself about how you decide whom to hire, promote, or job transfer into boss positions:

  • What objective criteria are being used to determine who will be a good boss?
  • What predictive analytics are being used that provide objective, valid, and reliable data?
  • Do they want to be a boss or have different career goals to pursue? (Hint: Ask them and listen to their response!)
  • As a boss, are they open to developing better communication skills? (Hint: As a boss, communication skills become more critical.)
  • Are they coachable? (Hint: A requirement for them to succeed.)

#2 Profitability requires accountability for how bosses build employee engagement.

Developing your company’s bosses needs a committed team of management executives, external executive coaches, and internal company mentors. Together they can ensure all bosses engage their employees daily. Failure to “check-in” will negatively impact retention, revenues, and results!

Do they:

Develop their team members? To engage employees, it’s important that your bosses ask for and listen to their team’s ideas before making decisions. Also, ensure bosses offer all employees challenging assignments that support their career goals.

Have tough conversations using compassion and experience? Too many bosses focus on likeability. It’s why they fear having tough conversations. While a damaging discussion with a boss can disengage the employee quickly, tough conversations done right ensure retention (e.g., eliminating bullies), revenues (e.g., meeting budgets and timelines), and results (e.g., resourcefulness and resilience).

Focus on results, not personalities? Each team member has natural strengths. Are your bosses building on these strengths? Also, ensure your bosses are not trying to fix a person’s personality (e.g., talks too much, dominates conversations). Instead, they need to provide all employees with appropriate skills training.

Acknowledge team members? This is crucial! Ensure your bosses are specific when praising their teams and acknowledging each and every team member’s contribution. (Hint: Listen to how they talk about their team members with you. It’s a reflection of how they communicate with their employees.)

Have 1:1 meetings weekly with each employee. Every employee needs the boss’s undivided attention. For best results, remind your bosses to turn off their gadgets, listen, and focus on one strength the employee can build on. Multi-tasking disengages employees!

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? With Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom, she guides clients through sticky situations and challenging relationships for dynamic results! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about ensuring your bosses engage all employees: Did you know that 82% of the time, bosses are chosen for the wrong reasons (e.g., technical ability, length of employment, likeability)? In today’s workplace, hiring and developing bosses is crucial to ensure a profitable company with engaged employees. Contact me for a confidential conversation about hiring, coaching, and managing for profitable success.

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? Great bosses work with an experienced executive coach as a sounding board. I have extensive experience and wisdom in guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching program. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to manage as a great boss!

Bosses impact retention, revenues, and results each and every day by how they engage employees. To improve your bottom line, use the PXT Select to see the “whole person.”

 

 

How to Have Conversations for Positive Results (Part 2)

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“Our ability to communicate effectively requires being aware of how our interactions impact others.” Jeannette Seibly

This is Part 2 of a two-part article:

When having conversations, it can be difficult today to know what to share, and when and if to share it.

In last week’s article (Part 1), I wrote about why conversations sharing too much information – too soon (TMI-TS) can hurt your credibility, sales, and building solutions for positive results.

This week, I will go deeper into how to overcome sharing TMI-TS and offer strategies for creating positive results through great conversations.

How to Overcome Sharing TMI – TS (Too Much Information – Too Soon)

Invest in developing an effective communication style since it is the key to your career and business success!

  1. Who Is Your Audience? Share from your own human story your lesson learned (yes, only one) to overcome your mistake or performance challenge. Remember, keep it short and on point — people have short attention spans!
  2. Be Aware of Your True Intention. Our minds are great at circular logic or rationalization. While you may believe you’re being forthright, it may come across as manipulative, falsely believing you’re being authentic. Talk with your coach to ensure your conversations attract and engage others, not repel them by sharing TMI-TS.
  3. Honor Today’s Business Expectations. Using four-letter words, jargon, and other off-putting communication styles may seem trendy. The truth is that it conveys a poor communication style that hurts your credibility when someone doesn’t know you. Develop stronger relationships first before letting your vocabulary loose!
  4. Apply for a Job. TMI-TS is telling your personal story, labeling yourself, or announcing must-haves in the first job interview. While you may believe it’ll avoid a problem boss or employer, it hurts your chances of a job offer. While the interviewer may not be biased, it is often not a true representation of the workplace culture.
  1. Listen as a Hiring Boss. Stick with job-related questions. Don’t interact with a job candidate about being gay, divorced, or bored (ADHD) (to name a few examples!). It’s why the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has a huge backlog of allegations claiming discrimination (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity, medical) when the claimant wasn’t offered the position or promotion. 
  1. Share Your Story. While sharing stories can build good working relationships, consider the impact and timing first. Practice in front of a mirror to ensure you feel comfortable telling it! Remember: Keep It Short and On-Point!
  • In a public presentation, sharing a personal experience can engage the audience. (Examples: “Why this helped me succeed.” OR “What I’ve done to change a bad habit.”)
  • In an inner-company meeting, share only your personal experiences, not someone else’s. Be sure to tell the story within the context of the conversation.
  • In network meetings or trade shows, talk about products and services. To get the conversation started, brag about an achievement. (Example: “I am a Leadership Results Coach and have guided 100s of bosses to improve their hiring, coaching, and managing results.” Jeannette Seibly)
  1. Acceptance Takes Time. “I’m concerned about others accepting me,” a businessman lamented. Then, he countered, “I don’t want to spend time developing a relationship with a client who won’t accept me as a Republican (Jewish, gay, or ???).” Acceptance takes time. This fear thwarts a commitment to your purpose, business vision, and mission in conversations. 
  • Instead, share your “brags” about who you are and why you’re good at what you do. While business is changing, TMI-TS doesn’t work. The good news is that many business relationships today overlook lifestyle choices when you are respectful and trustworthy, depending on how you communicate them. 
  1. Addressing Poor Job Performance. Too often, when you rely on a personal story to discuss why you failed … it can be heard as an excuse and may limit your credibility and influence. 
  • Instead, hire an executive coach to get real about your poor job performance since many bosses are not good coaches. This is often due to poor job fit. For example, expecting good attorneys also to be good rainmakers (sales).

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? With Jeannette’s extensive experience and wisdom, she guides clients through sticky situations and challenging relationships for dynamic results! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about how to have conversations for positive results: Sharing too much information too soon (TMI -TS) hurts your credibility, others’ willingness to listen, and your results! Contact me for a confidential conversation about how to communicate for positive results!

Build your confidence and success as a boss! Great bosses work with an experienced executive coach as a sounding board. I have extensive experience guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching program. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to communicate like a great boss!

Want to know why your team has poor communication skills? Use the PXT Select to ensure job fit for hiring, coaching, and managing success.

 

How to Have Conversations for Positive Results (Part 1)

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“Our ability to communicate effectively requires being aware of how our interactions impact others.” Jeannette Seibly

This is Part 1 of a two-part article: 

Many professionals today like to tell it like it is for them.

Topics include:

  • Talking about their bad boss or team
  • Inner fears or childhood experiences
  • Lifestyle choices (gender, politics, religion)
  • Other experiences (e.g., natural disaster victim, ADHD, mental health)

They believe it’s important to share everything early and that being authentic saves them from experiencing personal hurt feelings and bad experiences later.

But sharing too much information – too soon (TMI-TS) can have negative impacts. It can hurt your ability to have real conversations for positive results (e.g., resolve conflict, develop solutions for a client, or close a sale). The truth is, it might not have become or been an issue if you had waited.

Ask yourself the following questions:

  • How much do you share when you meet someone?
  • Are you an open book about your personal, family, or business concerns?
  • Do you share your lifestyle choices too soon?

Why Is This Important?

Remember, ALL good relationships, business and otherwise, take time and patience!

When you share TMI-TS, it unconsciously draws a line of demarcation that others won’t cross. It’s not that they have a bias; they feel their personal boundaries have been disrupted. They believe that no matter what they say or do in response, it’ll be wrong. Then they leave the conversation, even when continuing to stand next to you.

To be an effective communicator, consider the following before oversharing:

  • Pay attention to who your audience is
  • Learn how to “brag” humbly to share your credibility
  • Have conversations designed to build win-win-win results
  • Build a good working relationship regardless of your personal experiences or lifestyles
  • Develop strong inner power, self-esteem, and confidence from all of your life and work experiences

My next article will go deeper into how to overcome sharing too much information – too soon and offer strategies for creating positive results through great conversations.

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? With Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom, she guides clients through sticky situations and challenging relationships for dynamic results! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about how to have conversations for positive results: Sharing too much information too soon (TMI -TS) hurts our credibility, others’ willingness to listen, and our results! Contact me for a confidential conversation about how to communicate for positive results!

Build your confidence and success as a boss! Great bosses work with an experienced executive coach as a sounding board. I have extensive experience guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching program. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to communicate like a great boss!

You’ll excel as a boss and leader when you can appreciate others’ communication and learning abilities. Use the PXT Select to ensure job fit for hiring, coaching, and managing success.

A Workplace Bully Can Sabotage Results

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“As a boss and leader, dealing with workplace bullies is not easy. If you don’t, it’ll sabotage your results.” Jeannette Seibly

Bullies can be everywhere today. They can be bosses, leaders, consultants, coworkers, peers, vendors, and customers. While you may believe you don’t take their demeaning remarks seriously, a bully is a bully! It sabotages results and negatively impacts you and others, regardless of how you rationalize it!

Like many of you reading this article, I’ve experienced bullies in the workplace. It’s not fun, and bullies can be difficult and scary to deal with. But recognizing and dealing with bullies in the workplace is essential. Ironically, when doing so, you honor yourself and create a better workplace environment.

Why Do Bullies Bully?

It’s All About Power. Bullies, even those who are successful, demean others, diminish others’ successes, and make bad jokes at others’ expense to make themselves feel better.

Others’ Enable Them. You cannot change them. Many people enable bullies by falsely believing you can let their comments go in one ear and out the other. But they forget that people have brains and emotions in between!

They Are Manipulative. Bullies like to sabotage others and can be sneaky saboteurs. After they bully someone, they often step in to save them and let others know.

They Are Allowed to Do So! Bosses and leaders need to get real. With stress and mental health at an all-time high, bullying costs companies millions in turnover, poor results, and negative cash flow.

They Cannot Tell the Truth! Bullies are spin doctors and are unafraid of blaming others. Remember, their fear of not having power, losing control, and others’ success makes for a toxic workplace.

The Truth About Workplace Bullying

Bullies cause an emotional, psychological, and physical toll in the workplace.

The Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI) defines workplace bullying as repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets). It is abusive conduct that is:

  • Threatening, humiliating, or intimidating.
  • Sabotaging prevents work from getting done.
  • Verbal abuse.

The Facts About Workplace Bullying (aka Stats)

According to the 2021 WBI U.S. Workplace Bullying Survey:

  • Almost 60 percent of Americans have suffered abusive conduct at work or seen it
  • Remote bullying occurs via virtual meetings
  • 52 percent of bullies are non-management, and 40 percent are managers
  • Women bully women at twice the rate they bully men
  • Exposure to others being bullied causes harm to the observers (e.g., anxiety, exhaustion, hypertension)

How to Deal with Bullies at Work!

Talk with Them. Share specific incidents with them 1:1. If it continues, talk with your boss, your boss’s boss, and/or human resources.

Let Your Boss Know. Or, your boss’s boss! Document it (e.g., times, dates, witnesses). Record it (e.g., cell phone, video). Share with human resources and your attorney. Remember, their bullying won’t stop if you don’t take the right actions.

Move On. This sounds simpler than it is and may take a while, especially if you’re hoping for a new job first. It’s important you remove yourself from the environment as soon as possible.

Experience the Grief. Honor your feelings and self-care. If you don’t, you will experience an emotional meltdown later at an inopportune time!

Other Bullying Considerations to Be Aware Of

Bullying has also become a catch-all phrase. Talk with your executive coach and/or therapist for a reality check and on how to address the issue.

Poor Work Quality. When your boss is critical of a project or work document, it may not be bullying. Instead, s/he may need a coach for guidance on how to give constructive feedback. But don’t ignore the feedback in these situations, or it could hurt your career! Ask for help and use others’ objective and honest input to improve.

Team Bullying. When team members are snarky, dismiss others’ ideas, or sabotage others’ work, it’s time to talk about appropriate behavior. Provide meeting and team building training! Or, you’ll continue to miss deadlines, exceed budgets, and fail to achieve intended results.

When You Make a Mistake. Review what happened. Did the person belittle you, or were your feelings hurt because you made a mistake that the person caught and corrected? Otherwise, you may be labeled a bully!

Time to Find True Friends. It’s time for new friends when they fear the bully knows they are your friend. Or, they cannot tell the truth about what happened due to fear of retribution.

For example, when asked about witnessing someone being bullied, the person said, “No. I just agreed she was bullied because I thought I was expected to say that!”

Another example is, “Does the bully know we’re friends? I don’t want to get caught in the middle of this problem since I need to work with him/her in the future.”

Develop Confidence in Yourself When Being Bullied

This is the hardest part. Bullies thrive on insecure people (whether you can admit to your insecurities or not) and are astute at recognizing it. Tell the truth and work with a therapist or skilled coach. When you elevate your inner power and confidence (e.g., brag-work), you become a stand for a bully-free workplace!

As a boss or leader, remember that tolerating bullying will cost you customers, top talent, and money! If you are the bully, get help before it’s too late (e.g., loss of business, awards, jobs, careers, and friends)!

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? Her wisdom guides clients through sticky situations and challenging relationships for dynamic results! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about how to deal with a bully in the workplace: It’s essential that, as a boss and leader, you proactively address bullying in the workplace. Otherwise, bullying can cost your company millions in turnover, poor results, and negative cash flow. Contact me for a confidential conversation about how to stop bullying in your company!

Have you considered the benefits of strengthening your superpowers and becoming a great boss? It’s not complicated, but it does require an experienced sounding board. I have extensive experience guiding bosses and leaders to work with and through their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching program. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to have more fun and make more money!

If you’d like to help employees to be talent ready, explore using the PXT Select to ensure job fit now and for future opportunities.

Are You Sabotaging Your Employees?

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“Good decisions will not sabotage your employees.” Jeannette Seibly
  • Are you a leader that believes you make good decisions?
  • Are you aware of the times your decisions have sabotaged your employees and others?
  • Have your employees and customers had to clean up issues caused by your bad decisions?

As a boss and leader, you must make decisions in the best interest of the company, its customers, and employees. But, often, due to limited/mediocre/poor critical thinking, playing favorites, or not understanding the core issue, these decisions sabotage your employees and negatively impact others.

Good Decisions Need These Critical Factors

It Starts with Clarity. What is the core issue of the problem? Once it is identified, wait! Before you implement a solution, conduct your due diligence! While you may believe you’ve answered the pros and cons, there is a bigger, often overlooked question, “How does this decision impact my employees now and in the future?”

Ask for Input! While it may seem like an excellent decision, it does not mean others will agree. Talk with employees and customers to better understand the core issue from their perspectives instead of relying on rationalization or circular thinking! Brainstorm possible solutions.

A company needed a better technology application for its core program. The problem? Their solution did not include input from the salespeople that use it, sabotaging sales!

Listen! Instead of pushing your agenda, talking over employees’ objections, and ignoring customers’ and coworkers’ concerns, listen! Or, they will covertly (and overtly) sabotage you! Don’t overlook or ignore the hard questions. For example, “What is the #1 challenge for getting everyone onboard?”

Plan for Impacts. When designing the plan, consider the well-being of your employees. Stress and mental health challenges are at an all-time high. So, plan for the number of hours expected, changes in workflow, and new skills required.

Focus on Creating Win-Win-Win Outcomes. Focus on alignment for the solution, not consensus building. Consensus building often sabotages efforts due to the fear of change and office politics.

Keep Everyone Up to Date. Use all forms of communication (emails, internal newsletters, and chats) to keep everyone apprised of the process and results. Include the challenges and wins. Good communication minimizes sabotaging or unexpected changes.

Get Real and Don’t Insulate Employees. When there are tough (and unpopular) decisions to be made, talk straight. Address the alternatives considered. Share the upside and downside of your decision. The worse things you can do are: be silent, hide, or make assumptions (or all three).

Compassion and Sensitivity. This can go a long way towards having your decisions well received with minimal disruption and sabotaging of your employees.

Most Importantly! Don’t Blame Your Employees. Every decision-maker has made bad decisions. But great leaders and bosses understand they must take responsibility for them. What can you do to correct them? Start first by talking with your executive coach and an internal company mentor before doing anything. Otherwise, you can make the outcomes of a bad decision even worse!

(c)Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Right Reserved

If you’d like to help employees to be talent ready, explore using the PXT Select to ensure job fit now and for future opportunities.

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? Her wisdom guides clients through sticky situations and challenging relationships for dynamic results! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about sabotaging your employees: You and other bosses frequently make decisions believing they are in the company’s and customers’ best interest. But, at times, these decisions can and do sabotage or negatively impact your employees. Contact me for a confidential conversation about how to avoid sabotaging your employees!

Have you considered the benefits of strengthening your superpowers and becoming a great boss? It’s not complicated, but it does require an experienced sounding board. I have extensive experience guiding bosses and leaders to work with and through their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching program. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to make better decisions and prevent sabotaging your employees.